hello-

i am seeking advice about dealing with sciatica.
background: came down with sciatica july 2004, mri taken early january
shows extrusion at l5-s1. since early january the pain has gotten
progressively worse. i now have to take nsaids 24/7-am now up to 1200mg
a day with ibuprofen. sometimes will substitute 400mg of ibuprofen with
220mg of aleve. for the first 6 months i managed the pain on 600mg of
ibuprofen    :( . i am taking prilosec to reduce the risk of bleeding
from the nsaids.

questions
1) how concerned should i be that the pain has increased, and that it
is still ongoing since july/04 (now nearly 8 months)? should i consider
getting another mri to try to find out why the pain has recently
increased?

2) the nsaids do take away the pain so that the only symptom is
tightness in my leg, but this could be from deconditioning. how long
and at what dose can one generally take nsaids (ibuprofen is first
choice, aleve (naproxen) is second)? what blood tests should i take to
monitor possible side effects from the nsaids?

3) if i can manage the pain successfully with nsaids, should i
indefinitely put off considering surgery? i dont have any fever,
unexplained weight loss, incontinence, muscle weakness (aside from no
longer being able to run, hence deconditioning).

4) when should i consider surgery? am thinking of microdiscectomy or
any other minimally invasive/outpatient technique. i do NOT want major
back surgery requiring general anesthesia and the cutting of ligaments
and muscle.

5) any recommendations for safer pain medicines?

6) what are the risks of developing permanent nerve/muscle damage? what
might be the warning signs?